This is obviously very sad, but unfortunately, it is what happens when bullets, bombs, missiles and military aeroplanes are flying around while troops are advancing, and nobody should be under any illusion that these things will not continue to happen, as long as wars do.
'Friendly fire' incidents have always happened in wars, (the first RAF Spitfire shot down in the Battle of Britain was nailed by an RAF Hurricane). Most bomber forces in WW2 used to work on the basis that up to ten percent of the force would be lost in collisions while forming up before they even set off for their target, and a proportion of the lower formations would be hit by bombs falling from aircraft flying above them. There are countless other examples I could quote too. But of course with the internet, news satellites etc etc, incidents such as these are simply more widely reported these days.
Although it often seems that the US appear to have more friedly fire incidents than other forces, I think it's fair to say the likelihood that they will, is in large part due to their numbers in comparison to other coalition forces. So proportionally, they are probably no worse than any other army in this. It's true the US gained a reputation for incidents of this nature in WW2, when they did indeed hit many Allied troops, but one has to remember that they were there in larger numbers than anyone else then as well. And everybody in the UK was glad of their numbers when they were putting ten landing craft onto the beaches at Normandy for every one the British landed there, weren't they? Incidents of this nature are the price you pay for that numerical superiority.
And yes it is true that some American servicemen have what is euphemistically termed a 'gung-ho attitude', but so do some UK servicemen and probably every other nation as well. However, the newspapers do not report stories about examplary soldiers, because that is 'boring', they only pick up on things which will outrage readers and sell newspapers. It is this kind of crap, poor editorial and journalistic integrity, which made me decide to leave the newspaper industry some years ago and write freelance instead.
When the newpapers report on all the successful missions as much as they do on the ones which go 'tits up' I'll have a bit more respect for them.
Note that, as someone queried, with regard to the A10 Thunderbolt II (or Warthog as everyone calls it) and what will happen when it retires, you might be interested to know that a contract has recently been awarded, which will see these aircraft extensively serviced, Boeing winning the contract to 're-wing' them (for example) to extend their service lives. Since the A10 is one of the best close-support aircraft ever, hopefully this, at least, will help to minimise the chances of this sort of tragic occurence.
Chock